Adenoviruses, first isolated in the 1950s from explanted adenoid tissue, are double-stranded nonenveloped DNA viruses that naturally infect many vertebrates, including nonhuman primates and humans. The human adenoviruses in the Mastadenovirus genus (comprised of all mammalian adenoviruses) are classified into 7 species groups A-G and 54 different serotypes (Harrach, B., et al. Virus Taxonomy (9th Report of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses) (eds. King, A., Carstens, E., Adams, M. & Lefkowitz, E.) (Elsevier, N.Y., 2011)). Adenoviruses are the cause of an estimated 5-10% of febrile illnesses in children worldwide (Fox, J. P., Hall, C. E. & Cooney, M. K. Am J Epidemiol 105, 362-386 (1977)). Some serotypes, such as human adenovirus type 14 (hAd14), have been associated with severe and potentially fatal outbreaks of pneumonia in residential facilities and military bases (Lewis, P. F., et al., J Infect Dis 199, 1427-1434 (2009)). Adenoviruses have also been associated with other clinical syndromes including conjunctivitis, hepatitis, and diarrhea. In nonhuman primates, most epidemiologic studies of adenoviruses have focused on their identification in fecal samples from asymptomatic animals (Banyai, K., et al. Vet Microbiol 142, 416-419 (2010); Roy, S., et al. PLoS Pathog 5, e1000503 (2009); Wevers, D., et al, Virol J 7, 303 (2010)). Overt respiratory disease associated with simian adenoviruses has also been observed (Tong, S., et al., Am J Trop Med Hyg 82, 967-970 (2010)). Although adenoviruses are significant pathogens, genetically modified strains are being actively explored as potential vectors for vaccines and gene therapy (Ghosh, S. S., Gopinath, P. & Ramesh, A. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 133, 9-29 (2006)).
It is unclear whether or not infection by adenoviruses is species-specific. Human adenoviruses do not usually replicate in monkey cells (or vice versa). Studies of sera from animal handlers and zoo workers exposed to chimpanzees in captivity fail to detect antibodies to chimpanzee adenoviruses (Basnight, M., Jr., Rogers, N. G., Gibbs, C. J., Jr. & Gajdusek, D. C., Am J Epidemiol 94, 166-171 (1971); Xiang, Z., et al., Emerg Infect Dis 12, 1596-1599 (2006)). However, recent serological surveys have found antibodies to New World or Old World monkey adenoviruses in donor human sera from regions where the monkeys are endemic (Xiang, Z., et al., supra; Ersching, J., et al., Virology 407, 1-6 (2010); Roy et al., supra). In addition, phylogenetic analyses of adenoviruses from greater apes reveal that they fall precisely into “human” adenoviral groups B, C, and E. The high degree of sequence relatedness within members of each group suggests that at least some adenoviral strains may be capable of infecting both nonhuman primates and humans.